In late 2021, the latest mainline Resident Evil game, Village, hit shelves and video game storefronts worldwide. While the game was similar very similar to its predecessor in gameplay, Village was different in one specific area. Mainly, its primary enemies did not match the traditional Resident Evil antagonist type which could have set up a new franchise norm.

The main enemies of the series are a variety of zombie-like creatures. While technically not zombies, the Ganados and Majini in Resident Evil 4 and 5 certainly behaved a lot like the undead and felt widely at home in the franchise. The same cannot be said of Resident Evil: Village's enemies which had a more supernatural theme to them. As it turned out, all of these monsters had some kind of scientific explanation behind their existence. This seems to have put the brakes on any supernatural elements appearing in the franchise; Resident Evil will likely never be able to go down this path.

The Supernatural-Themed Enemies of Resident Evil: Village

The enemies of the eighth game were very odd when compared to those of the rest of the franchise. Many of them felt like something out of a Universal Monster movie with spooky castles, swamps, and factories to match. Instead of zombies, many of the primary antagonists were werewolf-like creatures. Resident Evil: Village's big breakout character was Lady Dimitrescu, who was a vampire, as were her three daughters.

Resident Evil: Village's Heisenberg likewise was a bizarre monstrosity of a character that came off as a cross between Doctor Frankenstein and the main characters from Tetsuo: The Iron Man. Donna Beneviento and Moreau may not have been as overtly supernatural in presentation, but their abilities and overall themes would have been right at home in a horror film. Unfortunately, any fans who wanted these enemies to be paranormal in nature were in for a rude surprise.

How Resident Evil: Village Put the Axe to Any Supernatural Explanations in the Franchise

The first trailer for Resident Evil: Village teased a lot of supernatural stuff, but the game failed to follow up on it. Relatively early on, it was revealed that all the antagonists' abilities and appearances were based on the franchise's science fiction elements. Specifically, they were the results of Mother Miranda's experiments which often yielded unexpected and horrifying results. Like other Resident Evil games, all the bad things that happened in Village are the result of scientists who have gone rogue or corporations that went off the rails. This has been the theme of the series from the start, but it really appeared as if Village was set to do something different.

With Resident Evil: Village providing yet another scientific explanation for what was going on, there really isn't a way for the series to dive into another, non-scientific based source for what happens in future games. At this point, if any sequels were to provide a supernatural explanation for whatever horrors the player encountered, it would likely feel cheap, unearned, and possibly out of place. This is especially true when Resident Evil 7 and Village laid some clear groundwork for such an explanation, and both games opted to pass up on them.

At the moment, the future of the franchise is still somewhat in flux. There are rumors that Resident Evil 9 is in development and will follow Chris Redfield in some way. It's also expected that Capcom will put together a remake of Resident Evil 5 at some point, but neither project has been confirmed. The one thing that fans can definitively say about the series is that Resident Evil has made a choice that it can't walk back.

Resident Evil Village is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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